Raye Zaragoza is a Native American (O’odham), Mexican, Taiwanese, and Japanese singer-songwriter. She garnered praise as well as awards for her protest song against the Dakota Access Pipeline, “In The River.” Last year, Zaragoza released an album, “Fight For You,” that contains multiple songs of protest. They draw inspiration from

Protest Platforms is a three-part series examining what it means for music to protest today. Platforms have always helped to shape protest music. Independent artists, punk labels, and do-it-yourself (DIY) organizers have long suggested that the means through which music is created and distributed carries as much political weight as

In the decades-long struggle against apartheid in South Africa, Hugh Masekela was one of several musicians whose music came to represent the sound of resistance to racist oppression by the government. On January 23, Masekela, 78, died from prostate cancer. The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) mourned

Kevin Gosztola and Liz Pelly put together a collection of some of the best albums of protest music in 2017.

Protest Platforms is a three-part series examining what it means for music to protest today. Platforms have always helped to shape protest music. Independent artists, punk labels, and do-it-yourself (DIY) organizers have long suggested that the means through which music is created and distributed carries as much political weight as

In the first of a three-part series, Liz Pelly explores how platforms can shape music and enable protest. She highlights streaming cooperative, Resonate.

The free jazz quintet Irreversible Entanglements released its first eponymous album last month. Recorded over one six-hour studio session in August 2015, the 43-minute album is made of largely improvised instrumentation and Camae Ayewa’s radical poetry on Black trauma, survival, and power. It is the product of five musicians meeting for the

The protest music of the late Charles Bradley explored moral corruption and turning to love to survive, because who knows when change will finally come.

Downtown Boys release their second album, “Cost of Living,” on August 11. It was produced by Guy Picciotto of Fugazi, Rites of Spring, and other projects. Last year, Rolling Stone called Downtown Boys “America’s most exciting punk band,” and with help from Picciotto, their music has only grown more taught

In April, the legendary Joan Baez was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, making this year as apt a time as ever to celebrate her decades of music and social justice work. Since the late 1950s, Baez has released over 30 albums in six languages, often using